To the nines
by The Deceiving Maiden
Summary: All together, there was the nine of them. They started this mission together. And yet when that one person turns against them, everything falls apart. What would it take to reach the end they wanted? It would never be enough if their numbers falls below nine.


**Deceiver: Was daydreaming about one of the episodes from Higurashi Kai while listening to Twilight ∞ nighT. I remembered a saying to do with 'nines' and then I got this after I looked it up. Explanation at the bottom of the story! Enjoy :D**

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**To the nines**

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This loop was about to end.

Mary panted heavily as she stared at the now petrified Konoha before her. The snakes in her all stayed silent, as they do not wish to disturb their new Queen. His eyes, which used to hold a childish like glow before turning sinister, stared at her in shock and horror. He had failed to hurt her again, but so did she.

She had failed to save everyone in this loop too. Their bodies were now littered around her. Momo was still hugging Hibiya tightly closed to her, acting as a shield even though she knew it meant nothing against Konoha's attacks. The idol's eyes stared lifelessly at nothing, trails of tears running down her face and gathered on the floor she laid on. Hibiya was just as lifeless, but his eyes were wide in shock that he was protected again.

Further away from them, Shintaro was lying face down beside Ene, who somehow managed to gain a body in this world. The tears that spilled from her eyes were not from the pain, but from both the boys she cared about vanishing before her eyes. Konoha who turned sinister, and Shintaro who tried to protect her during her confusion. At the back of her mind, Mary just realized how much he and his sister were a like.

Then there was Kano and Kido. The deceiving blond who they thought was the traitor must be in the same pain as her. Because he was actually the first one Konoha came after. Too bad Kido had to stand between them and took the full blown instead, not intending to let a member of their gang get hurt in her presence. She just didn't expect the attack was an instant kill, which also made everyone stare in horror as they saw their leader fall back onto Kano, dead. At that very moment, Kano quickly followed, not intending to stay in a world where he betrayed his family and lose someone he held closest to. He even accepted Konoha's deadly blow without any resistance.

And Seto…

The small Medusa cried as her gaze went from Konoha's stoned form to Seto, who was lying beside his feet. She didn't know if this was deliberate or not, but Konoha must have saved Seto for last – killing him in a slow, torturous fashion, just to tear her heart into smaller pieces. He tried to protect her, fighting the dark android off as best as he could with his Eyes, yet it worth nothing in the end. He had to even hear Mary's distressed cries during his final breath.

"I don't want it…" she whispered pathetically, her legs finally gave in and she collapsed onto the floor in tears. "I don't want to say good bye."

Why couldn't she stop this tragic fate? And each time a failure too? She heard them. The snakes in her were all sneering and laughing at their past hosts on dying again and not knowing about the repeating world their Queen created. Mary could faintly recall that she did witness this many times before, too many even so she did not want to remember at all. This was not the ending she wanted.

She wanted to be in the world where she was still with the gang, all of them smiling and laughing. Every morning she would wake up to the smell of Kido's cooking, and she would see her hitting Kano with a cooking lid for pestering her. Seto would move her along during her sleepy state and they would have breakfast together. Everyone else would join too, either from staying over or just came to the base early. Then she would make fake flowers to help the gang's finance or spend the day with them, enjoying the day until it ends with Seto carrying her to bed and say good night.

She wanted to spend more time with them too. Not just in summer, but in all seasons too. She wanted to snuggle up to everyone's warmth when the days started to turn cold, listening on Momo complaining about school and Kido bringing in hot cocoa for her cold-sensitive body. Then when she was strong enough, a snowball fight, this time not just with her first three friends, but with everyone. She could imagine Konoha throwing snowballs at everyone under Hibiya' or Ene's command. And Shintaro would be buried in them.

Then there's Halloween, Christmas, New Years', Valentine's Day to celebrate. So many things she could have done with them. So many after they got this second chance and made their fateful encounters…

"I don't want to say goodbye."

Her soft pink eyes turned crimson red as she got up, the snakes began to grow unsettled as they knew what would happen next. She was the ruler now; she had the power to make everything better. She would try again as much as she wanted, just to get pass August 15th for her friends' sake.

"Mary…"

She could hear him; she could see him with everyone even. They must have remembered too. Too bad that they only realized it when she was ready to reset everything again.

"You're going to do it, aren't you?" Seto asked uneasily, still in disbelief at what was really going on the whole time.

"I am," Mary nodded sadly. "I won't let you all die like this."

"I'm sorry everyone," the gang all turned to the crestfallen android beside them. For once, he was showing some emotion. "I couldn't stop myself again. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault!" Ene yelled at him desperately, zooming up and pulling his face closer to hers. "It's that pathetic man we call our teacher's fault who made us like this in the first place!"

How many times have they heard this now?

"Well, we'll just try harder next time!" Momo piped up, feeling Hibiya's hold on her hand tighten. This was her motto for everyone. Always her motto. "I'm sure we'll make through this someday!"

At that, Kano smirked. "If you truly believe that, it might."

"You, however, need to try harder on not using your Eyes too much," Kido thwacked him upside on the head. The blond laughed it off, although it didn't match his guilt ridden face.

"Will it even work this time?" Everyone now turned to Shintaro, whose eyes were as dark as ever and more passive. "Why must we always make such promises when we all know what will likely happen? This had never worked. We all just repeat ourselves for a different start, yet always get the same ending."

"Onii-chan!" Momo snapped at him, anger in her eyes along with everyone else's. Seto tried to assure Mary to not cry while Kano glared at him coldly.

"My hate for you increased, Shintaro-kun."

A glare was sent back at Kano. The hikiNEET still couldn't forgive him for torturing him in every time loop. "Let me finish. Our mission is to destroy Kagerou Days and save everyone trapped in it, right? But this is meant to have every one of us with the Eyes to help out. Nine of us won't ever be enough, _especially _when we lose Konoha and he goes against us."

Kido crossed her arms, snorting. "Well, what do you suppose we do instead? We won't remember any of this anyway."

"We won't…but she will…"

The gang blinked at him, turning to one another, before to Mary. The genius shook his head. "The time when Konoha loses it, we need one more person with us. She's part of the gang too, right? So she should help."

The founders of the gang stared at him with wide eyes, slowly realizing what he meant as they watched him turn his head back. That was when they all noticed that there was one more person with them, staring at them in surprise.

"We need you, Ayano."

The former leader of the Mekakushi-Dan gaped at him, stepping back as everyone have their attention on her. Ayano opened her mouth again and again, yet couldn't form any words. Her siblings were staring at her in shock, not sure how to react to the fact she was with them here or that her eyes were red.

"I…uh…" she stepped back again, trying to calm herself down. Hibiya turned to Momo, asking who she was but the blonde just shushed him. As Shintaro stepped forward, Ayano's scarf started to fade around her neck, only to reappeared around his. The girl just stayed silent, not sure on what to say.

"Why haven't you been helping us? We're all here. We've been here so many times before and yet you just watched us do this again and again," he said, his voice sounding a bit more anguish than usual. Ayano stared at him, gulping before plastering on a smile.

"I was sure…that this time your Eyes could help them, Shintaro."

The teen just shook his head. "No, you're just being the idiot you've always been."

She smiled sadly at this. "I guess…"

Ene floated over to her, puffing her cheeks and gave her an accusing point with her finger. "Master is right, you know!" she huffed. "We've heard about you and your heroism from your little brothers and sister and yet you did nothing all this time! All you did was give Master Eyes that doesn't even work!"

The girl looked away sheepishly. "That's…true…"

"And here I thought Shintaro-kun was just incompetent to even make them work," Kano received another hard smack on the head from Kido. Sighing, the first member of the Mekakushi-Dan walked up to her foster sister, a sad look on her face.

"Ayano nee-chan…we need you…"

Seto stepped forward with Mary, his voice just as pleading. "We want to save you too. All of you."

"I want to see Hiyori…" Hibiya muttered, and Momo gave his hand a tighter squeeze.

"With the ten of us, instead of nine, we should be able to change things next time," Shintaro unravelled half of Ayano's scarf and handed it back to her. The woolly fabric seemed to have magically stretched out and was now too long for one person alone. "I really have no intention on taking over a gang you made and become the main hero. I can't take all of the responsibility…but I can take _some._"

Everyone watched her, waiting. Ayano took in a sharp intake of air when she noticed the tears that formed in her eyes and spilled onto the red scarf. Why was she crying, yet still feel a tiny happiness in her? She looked up at Shintaro, who gave her that same lazy smile he made when they met again in the past loops. Slowly, a small smile made it onto her lips, before she wrapped her share of the red scarf around her neck and stand closer to Shintaro. Both the teens took each other's' hand and they joined the others.

"That's everyone then," Kido muttered while putting her hood up. Everyone did the same, or at least hid their faces behind their high collared shirts or neck warmers. Both Ayano and Shintaro secured the scarf tighter around their neck as Mary activated the power inside her.

"One more time," she said, a bit more determined than she was before. Everyone agreed, pairing up with their closest friend or partner as they repeated her words. But Shintaro said this.

"For the last time."

"Together, till we get the perfect end," Ayano added.

And everyone was engulfed by the great snake of the Never Ending World, taking them back to the time they all began to gather. Ayano held onto Shintaro's hand more tightly, and she smiled at him.

_Until we meet again._

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**To the nines: to perfection or highest standards.**

**The gang have nine members, but when Kuroha appears, they all, or a few of them, die. 9 – 1 = 8, so they lose their perfection for everyone to make it out alive and complete their mission. Ayano have the Eyes too, so she should be able to help in the end and make it go back to perfection again.**

**That's my idea anyway as it gave birth to this oneshot. Thanks for reading and reviews would be great :)**


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